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Rwanda Geography

Rwanda like its neighbour Uganda is a landlocked country in the central Africa, It lies a few degrees south of the equator and it has no seaport. It’s surrounded by countries like, Uganda in the north for 169 km, Burundi in the south for 290 km, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the east for 217 km and Tanzania in the east for 217 km. Its countryside consists of grasslands and rolling hills, and it has a temperate climate. Its capital and largest city is Kigali it is located within the heart of Rwanda. It’s a small attractive city with an incredible variety of flowering trees and shrubs from various points on the ridge, there are superb views over the intensively cultivated and terraced countryside. The mountains and hills seem to stretch forever and the abundant rainfall keeps them a rush green.

Rwanda is also known as “The land of a Thousand Hills”; it is a green rolling landscape of hills, tea plantations and gardens. It offers travelers a one of a kind journey, it host almost one third of the world remaining Mountain Gorillas in the world, one third of Africa’s bird species (known as birds paradise), several species of primates coupled with chimpanzee the closest relative of man, baboon, vervet monkey to mention but a few, volcanoes, game reserve, resorts and islands on the expansive Lake Kivu, graceful dancers, artistic crafts and friendly people. Please don’t wait to visit this wonderful county on your 1 Day Gorilla Trek.

Rwanda is one of the world’s most densely populated countries. The country is divided by great peaks of up to 3, 000m (9,842ft) which run across the country from north to south. To feed the people, almost every available piece of land is under cultivation, expect for parts of the Akagera (along the border with Tanzania) and the higher slopes of the volcanoes. Since most of the country is mountainous, this involves a good deal of terracing. The Virunga volcanoes, rising steeply from Lake Kivu in the west, slope down first to hilly central plateau and further eastwards to an area of marshy lakes around the upper reaches of the AKagera River, where the Akagera National Park is situated.

The country’s scenery is much mountainous and the Karisimbi is regarded as the highest peak at 4,507on the Virunga Volcanic ranges and the lowest point in Rwanda is the Ruzizi River, at 950 m (3,117 ft) above sea level. Lake Kivu is the country’s largest main fresh water body. And Ruzizi river valley forms the western boundary with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire) and constitute part of the Great Rift Valley. There also other small lakes and Rivers such as Ruhondo, Bulera, Muhazi, Ihema, Mugesera and River Akagera. Rwanda is also located on the eastern edge of the Albertine Rift which is a western wing of the Great Rift Valley and all these places attract a number of travelers’ whole over the world to Rwanda to explore more about the country.

Even though Rwanda is located only two degrees south of the equator, Rwanda’s high elevation makes the climate temperate. The average daily temperature is near Lake Kivu; at an altitude of 4,800 feet (1,463 m) is 73 °F (22.8 °C). The average day time temperature is 24oc with a possible maximum of 300c. There are four noticeable seasons, the long dry season is from mid-May to September, and the long dry season is from mid-May to September, the short rains from October to mid-December to mid-march. Heavy downpours occur almost daily, alternating with sunny weather. Rainfall is generally heavier in the western and north-western mountains than in the eastern Savannah. The summit of Karisimbi (4507m), the highest of these volcanoes, is often covered with hail or snow